We've just finished reading 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie', finding it very absorbing and powerful.  The Film & Lit crew in the class are thinking of adding it to their list of films and we were all wondering if it's available on You Tube,   It is... here goes!

There's also a BBC drama series featuring Geraldine McEwan which looks excellent.

​Bev

​At our March meeting we completed Act 2 of Alive and Kicking. While providing quite a lot of humour, there was a sadness underlying the play relating to ageing. Spirited discussion followed and many agreed the characters in the play had the right approach. Boycott “going into care” and share a house with like minded people! A line which amused many of us “I don’t want to die until I’ve finished up all my bits of wool...”!

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is ‘the story of an eccentric Edinburgh teacher who inspires cult-like reverence in her young female student-followers, referred to as “the crème de la crème.” The Brodie Set is at first dazzled by Miss Brodie’s unconventional ways and her distaste for conventional education. She instills in them her own passion for art, music, men, and all things Italian.  However her excessive self-confidence also exposes the girls to a new world of adult games and boundary crossing’.

Miss Brodie's passion for teaching and extraordinary capacity to use the English language is clearly illustrated with the following outburst at the school Principal. “You will not use the excuse of that pathetic, that humorous document to blackmail me! Mr. Lowther, you are a witness to this. Miss Mackay has made totally unsupported accusations against my name and yours. If she has one authentic shred of evidence, just one, let her bring it forth! Otherwise, if one more word of this outrageous calumny reaches my ears, I shall sue! I shall take Miss Mackay to the public courts and I shall sue the trustees of Marcia Blaine, if they support her. I will not stand quietly by and allow myself to be crucified by a woman whose fetid frustration has overcome her judgment! If scandal is to your taste, Miss Mackay, I shall give you a feast!”

The play met with great controversy when first performed in the late 60’s and provides an interesting comparison with the social norms of today.

Jenny McKenna and Keith Rogers